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Across the United States, heritage tourism is on the rise.  To promote Alabama’s unique blend of Civil Rights history and cultural traditions, Auburn University and the Alabama Department of Tourism are teaming up to develop a Civil Rights Heritage Trail in Alabama.  The project aims to provide tourists with a rich travel experience by allowing access to Alabama’s Civil Rights sites through easy-to-follow routes and the inclusion of unique local restaurants, lodging and cultural amenities.  

The guide will go beyond well-known Civil Rights museums to include many additional sites significant in the struggle for racial equality.  Auburn University staff will work closely with the Alabama Department of Tourism to build on the Department’s current Civil Rights publication.  

Though the following information pertains specifically to America's Byways (www.byways.org), the research and ideas are extremely useful to all small towns and communities. In particular, download and review the trends and expectations documents located www.bywaysresourcecenter.org/topics/visitor-experience/marketing/tools/1131/

America’s Byways Resource Center, in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration National Scenic Byways Program, executed three phases of research in association with the development of a Public Awareness Strategy for America’s Byways®. The 2006/2007 Longwoods Travel USA® Personal Vehicular Travel Analysis and Custom Image & Positioning Research studies identified America’s Byways three priority segments as Touring, Special Event and Outdoor travelers.  This research can be found on the America’s Byways Resource Center website at http://www.bywaysresourcecenter.org/topics/visitor-experience/marketing/tools/1131/
 
In order to attract these travelers, we are looking ahead and would like input from you on story and theme ideas for the byways.org homepage. The Feature Stories are short stories that include a few byways with a particular theme, see http://www.byways.org/stories/ . The Activity Stories have more detail and include a minimum of 10 stories, see http://www.byways.org/explore/activities/
 
Here is a list of the upcoming proposed schedule for both Feature and Activity stories. The topic ideas/themes used should be fun, interesting, and engaging. New and different ideas/themes are always welcome!
 
An example: New York America’s Byways are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War.
 
DEVELOPING AND PROPOSED THEMED STORY IDEAS:
New Feature – Shipwrecks
New Activity - Gardens
New Feature – Small towns & Villages (could be unique museums or walking tours or festivals)
New Activity – Road biking

This targeted, national effort will help raise awareness of the risks drivers face on America’s rural roads.  The initiative will support States in improving rural road safety by highlighting available tools and programs, and it will provide assistance and encourage demonstrations of innovative, quick and effective leveraging of existing resources. 

This new endeavor will be multi-modal and comprehensive in addressing five key goals:  safer drivers, better roads, smarter roads, better trained emergency responders, and improved outreach and partnerships.  

Raising awareness is key to the success of the Rural Safety Initiative. For more information, please visit www.dot.gov/affairs/ruralsafety.

The Appalachian Regional Commission's (www.ARC.gov) driving maps, in partnership with National Geographic, are out. Maps can be found on http://www.visitappalachia.com and will be included in the April issue of National Geographic magazine reaching more than 865,000 subscribers nationwide. Click on the "Route Guide" graphic in the middle of the screen for one way to browse the featured routes. 

FHWA has reworked its Transportation Enhancement (TE) Activities website to make it easier to use. Some of the changes include having the TE Guidance page open to a page with an introduction to the guidance and supplemental guidance documents; and moving navigation bars to the top, allowing documents to be printed on fewer pages. The updated website can be found at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/te/.

The public is invited to review and discuss maps and charts of the potential projects and solutions to issues and needs that were identified at the Winter meetings.  The Alabama Department of Transportation will review the projects included in the FY2008-2011 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).  The following are meeting dates: Walker County, April 8, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., CHS Building, Jasper, Alabama
If you have any questions, please contact Cissy Edwards Crowe, (205) 264-8402, email cedwards@rpcgb.org

A Notice of Proposed Amendments (NPA) to the MUTCD was published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2008 for public review and comments. This NPA contains comprehensive revisions that are proposed for incorporation into the next edition of the MUTCD. A 7-month period is being provided for comments to the docket, which will close on July 31, 2008. Of particular interest may be proposed changes in Chapter 2D regarding wayfinding signs, Chapter 2G regarding specific service signs, and Chapter 2J regarding recreational and cultural area interest signs. Further information can be found at: http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/proposed_amend/index.htm.